In an event rarely remembered by locals, the Ogden Dunes
Fire Department was called upon twice within a 12 hour
period of time for structure fires in different parts of
their community over the 2004 Christmas Holiday season.

The first fire occurred late on the afternoon of December
26, when a report of a fire at 24 Sunset Trail was received.
Firefighters responded rapidly to find fire venting through
the roof of a two story home who's owner was out of town for
the holidays. Due to the weather conditions, assistance was
received from the City of Portage and Town of Burns Harbor
Fire Departments before the stubborn fire was finally put
out. FIST was activated to assist Ogden Dunes investigators
in determining the cause of the blaze, which was attributed to
a faulty light fixture above the bed in a basement bedroom of
the structure.

The Ogden Dunes firefighters had barely gotten their
apparatus cleaned and back into service when another structure
fire at 5 Turrent Road was reported. As with the first fire, assistance was requested from both Portage and Burns Harbor departments due to the adverse weather conditions and location.
This second fire completely destroyed a detached garage and two vehicles, as well as many musical instruments that were inside the garage. FIST was again activated to assist in the investigation,
but due to the extensive damage, no specific cause of the fire
could be determined.

In the above photograph FIST Technician Roy Adams (left),
Investigator & Team Director Jim Branham (center) and Investigator Alfred Jones (right) are seen removing debris from the doorway of the
garage at 5 Turrent Road.

(Photograph by Investigator Kelly Dziepak)

ARSONIST DESTROYS FOUR MOBILE HOMES

A deliberately set fire, fanned by high winds,
destroyed four mobile homes in the Meadowview
Mobile Home Park in South Haven, Indiana on the
evening of March 5, 2004.

The Porter County 911 center received the call
at 19:15 hours, and upon arrival of the first
South Haven engine company four minutes later,
three of the four homes were already involved.
The homes were located in a storage area of the park
approximately 600' away from the closest paved
roadway which hindered firefighting operations
for the South Haven department. Before the fire
was brought under control, a fourth mobile home
would also be damaged beyond repair.

Four members of Porter County FIST, who are
also members of the South Haven department, were
present for the initial alarm and conducted the
preliminary investigation. It was determined that
circumstances were present that indicated that
the fire was not accidental.

On Monday, March 8, an accelerant detection
K-9 from the Lake County Sheriff's Department
was brought to the scene to assist in the
investigation. The K-9 alerted to the presence
of ignitable liquids in five distinct areas of
the structure furthest to the north in the line
of mobile homes. The following day, an investigator
from the Office of the State Fire Marshal took
samples from each area for further laboratory analysis.

Even though the dollar amount from this fire
was minimal (the structures were unoccupied at
the time of the fire) the deliberate nature of
the fire in the crowded mobile home park is
being taken very seriously. A reward of up to
$5,000 for information leading to the arrest and
prosecution of those responsible has been offered.

(Photograph by FIST Investigator Alfred Jones)

FIRE DESTROYS HEBRON CHURCH

On the afternoon of Sunday, February 15, 2004 a fire
was reported in a Hebron, Indiana church just after completion
of the morning worship service.

Due to the extremely cold weather and several frozen
hydrants, the Hebron Fire Department required mutual aid
from Boone Grove, Four Seasons, Kouts, Lake Eliza, Morgan
Township, Washington Township (all of Porter County),
Lowell and Crown Point (Lake County) and Keener Township
(Jasper County) before the blaze was brought under control.
Unfortunately the metal building was all but destroyed by
the blaze.

A joint investigation conducted the following day by the
Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Porter County FIST
Team determined that the fire was of an accidental nature.
The fire has been attributed to combustible materials being
stored to close to a hot water heater.

Members of the congregation plan to rebuild their church
on the current site as soon as possible.

(Photograph by FIST Investigator Kelly Dziepak)

COMMENDATION LETTER RECEIVED

On June 3, 2003 Porter County FIST
received this letter of commendation from
LaPorte City Fire Chief Greg Smith.